Cancer patient launches exhibition celebrating the heroes who care for her

A creative cancer patient has been inspired by the team supporting her throughout her treatment to create a photography exhibition in their honour.

Rina Dave, 52, was told in March that the breast cancer she had been battling for five years had spread to her lungs, liver and ribs and she was living with advanced cancer.

In order to give herself a focus during the intensive treatment, she decided to embark on a photography project that celebrated the 22 key people, including doctors, nurses, family and friends, supporting her through her cancer journey. 

Six months later, Rina has seen her dream realised with her exhibition, ‘The People Who Are Keeping Me Alive’, now on display at Imperial College London.

Galvanised by her vision, Cancer Research UK is asking people to share their heroes and the people who inspire them using the twitter hashtag  #RinasHeroes.

Rina said: “It was a very emotional time. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. I didn’t want to wallow. I wanted to take the cancer straight on, to take the fight straight on.

“I wanted to create a series of photographs that celebrated what the team mean to me and their own individuality at the same time. I’m incredibly lucky to have such a huge team of people supporting me and keeping me alive. In the past it would only have been people like kings and queens who would have received this level of medical care.”

Rina, a television producer, has undergone chemotherapy at Charing Cross Hospital in London to manage the cancer at the same time as directing the photography alongside a team of friends.

“We joke about it but I really believe that this is what is keeping me alive,” she said. “It feels like the project has a life of its own. Everything seems to have just slotted into place with it.

“It’s been fantastic to work with such inspiring people and get to know them even better. It’s been a role reversal with the medical professionals – me telling them what to do for once instead of them bossing me around. Everyone who I’ve asked to be a part of it has agreed and it has definitely bought us closer together.

Kelly Gleason

“I also wanted to capture all the people around me who are my support network so it includes some of my friends and my mum who I persuaded to fly over from India to be photographed.

“It’s the project that is keeping me alive. I have seen the good side of people by working on it.”

The 22 giant photographs depict a wide range of people caring for Rina, including her oncologist, GP, chemotherapy nurse and phlebotomist as well as her acupuncturist and her mum.

Each individual has been captured with a prop that is personal to them and shows the real person behind the role they play in Rina’s care and support.

Kelly Gleason, Cancer Research UK Senior Research Nurse in Imperial’s Department of Surgery and Cancer, has worked closely with Rina throughout the project’s development and has helped make it become a reality.

Kelly said: “When we set up our seminar room as a photo studio and people started coming in for their portraits, Rina forgot she had cancer. She was truly in the moment and fully present, immersed in her dream of making this project a reality.

“It was also very beautiful that the nurses and support staff were photographed and had a brief moment being in the spotlight. Their work is important but often goes unrecognised.  It was very touching to watch the ‘unsung heroes’ be photographed and acknowledged for their contributions. 

“I feel the project will have a positive impact on many people whose lives have been touched by cancer.  That’s why we are asking everyone to be a part of it by tweeting about their heroes using the hashtag #RinasHeroes.”

Rina said: “I hope people leave with the feeling that we are all connected to one another and we need each other to stay alive. We all matter to each other.

“Look at me, I’m a stage four cancer patient. I’m living with cancer; cancer is my new normal. I don’t know how long I have to live. At the minimum I will have at least a year but all I can count on is being here at this minute and making the most of it.

“I hope this project shows that with one another’s help, beauty can come out of a situation when you are struggling against difficulty.”

'The People Who Are Keeping Me Alive' is on display in the College main entrance on Exhibition Road, from Monday 17 November to Sunday 30 November. Entry is free.

Based on a news release from Cancer Research UK